Anyone that watches American football knows the penalty flag. The item is something you love and hate depending on which side you’re on. It’s something that will cause you to jump for joy or lose your temper in absolute rage. We’re talking about that little yellow terrorist, the penalty flag.

The original idea for the penalty flag came from Youngstown State coach Dwight Beede. Beede’s moment of eureka happened after noticing on-field confusion due to officials using whistles to signal a penalty. Beede invented the penalty flag, and it was used for the first time during a game on October 17, 1941, against Oklahoma City University at the Youngstown’s Rayen Stadium.

Before the introduction of the penalty flag, the officials used horns and whistles to signal a penalty. This made it difficult for fans and the media to know that there was an infraction on the field because they could not hear the signal. Beede said, “I always disliked the fish horn signal, figured it was a nuisance, irritating to the ears.” Jack McPhee, who was an official during the first game the penalty flag was used said, “Through the use of the signal flag, everyone in the stadium knows that something is wrong. It’s been a big help.”

Once Beede had the idea of the flag and had his wife sew it together. His wife, Irma Beede, later became known as the ‘Betsy Ross of Football’ because she sewed the first flags together. He asked her to make a flag that had a bright red color with white stripes. The flags were put together using pieces of the Beede’s daughter’s old Halloween costume for the red part of the flag and an old sheet for the white part. She used some lead sinkers from Beede’s fishing tackle box to weigh it down. It was 16 inches square with the weight all at one end of the flag. The flag has been modified over the years and today it is yellow cloth that has sand in it to weigh it down.